Each level in Gravit8 consists of a simple plotted course through the stars that you begin by tapping on the screen. The only problem is all the horrendously damaging meteors and satellites that float around, determined to kill you.
On each level the obstacles are on a predetermined path, intersecting throughout your own path, causing you to need to time your journey so as to avoid each damned rock.[sc name=”quote” text=”On each level the obstacles are on a predetermined path, intersecting throughout your own path, causing you to need to time your journey so as to avoid each damned rock.”]
At first look, it seems pretty obvious that you just need to sit at the start of the level and watch the paths of the objects and time it perfectly. Although this would be pretty boring gameplay-wise, it would make the actual journey very easy.
Gravit8 is smarter than you, however. After a few seconds, an alien spaceship flies in from the left, blowing you up if you dare to stay at the start too long. It is likely Gravit8 is making a poignant statement about the inevitability of alien invasion, thus necessitating colonization of the stars. I’m sure NASA is very thankful.
In an effort to make the journey more than just watching little dingy spaceship flying through the stars (hopefully) dodging the debris, Gravit8 slows down the screen dramatically, giving even the sound a bass-shifted, Michael Bay-esque quality to illustrate how badass it is when you just miss hitting a meteor. I’m sure NASA does the exact same thing.
This makes the gameplay experience at least somewhat more interesting, as you feel progressively more and more awesome when you manage to dodge multiple projectiles.
All these lovely effects help boost up the gameplay experience for the player, but the base gameplay of Gravit8 is what needs to be looked at – ultimately, it’s a simple little point A to point B obstacle puzzle. The fact that Gravit8 manages to dress up the simplistic gameplay with the space travel ascetic successfully is a great point in their credit, but the base gameplay is just that: simplistic.
The longevity of play of Gravit8 is very limited; the puzzles are momentarily interesting and fun to play, but after a few levels it feels quite repetitive. This isn’t helped by the fact that several of the early levels can be solved by just launching your ship as soon as the level starts. Once realised, it feels quite boring to get through those levels before you get back to solving the puzzle organically.
The lack of any kind of further complexity in the gameplay makes Gravit8 limited to a very basic, occasionally played distraction, only really brought out when you see an overly dramatic movie and you want to experience the stereotypical slowdown in game form.[sc name=”quote” text=”… only really brought out when you see an overly dramatic movie and you want to experience the stereotypical slowdown in game form.”]
It also is not in Gravit8’s favour that it costs $1 to skip a level and the app tries to charge you without any prior confirmation.
If Gravit8 were to include some kind of further gameplay to spruce up the limited experience, it might be possible for Gravit8 to be a more rounded game. Until then, it’s just a little dose of awesomeness now and again.
[review pros=”Very cool slowdown effect. Pretty ascetic and simple music.” cons=”Very limited gameplay. Not really any kind of further progression past working out the puzzle timings.” score=4]
[appbox appstore id1126027414]
